 |
by Xeni Jardin on (#1J4YZ)
Caesar Goodson, the Baltimore Police van driver accused of giving a violent "rough ride" that broke Freddie Gray's neck and killed him was acquitted of all charges Thursday by Circuit Judge Barry Williams. Goodson was the driver of the van in which Gray died, and faced the most serious charges of the 6 cops accused in Gray's death while in police custody. (more…)
|
Boing Boing
| Link | https://boingboing.net/ |
| Feed | http://feeds.boingboing.net/boingboing/iBag |
| Updated | 2026-06-22 07:32 |
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J4PX)
A new US voter database leak has exposed the addresses, estimated income, ethnicity, phone numbers, political affiliation, and voting history of 154 million Americans. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J4HR)
Thomas H Crown's Twitter rant about the Trump campaign compares it to the real-estate developer playbook, which is based on inveigling others into putting up all the capital for a high-risk venture that is sold on the basis of the developer's confidence and force of personality. (more…)
|
 |
by Andrea James on (#1J4FX)
If your palms are too dry, this helmetcam from the Mount Huashan plank path might help. Best part? It's a two-way path, so one hiker has to swing out and around anyone going the other way. (more…)
|
 |
by Boing Boing's Store on (#1J4FZ)
Bluetooth speakers may be convenient to use, but many of them just aren't that powerful. Sure, it may be fine if you’re seated in front of the speaker. But move across the room, and you may strain to hear what’s coming from those tiny drivers.There’s a reason why the G-BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Boombox (now $79.99 in the Boing Boing Store) was named an iLounge Speaker of the Year - and that’s because this rechargeable box definitely brings the boom.Sync it to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth and the G-BOOM pumps out big sound from its 2.2-inch configuration. On top of that, the unit sports features normally found in pricier models: bass modulation, a pair of rear-firing bass ports, MAXX AUDIO digital sound processing and up to six hours of play on a single charge.At 20% off, find out why experts are talking about the G-BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Boombox -- before this deal runs out.
|
 |
by Andrea James on (#1J4CZ)
A Blair Witch Project for the Snapchat generation, Sickhouse originally rolled out on Snapchat star Andrea Russett's account as if it were real and in real time. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J49S)
Shawl and Ward's impetus came during their tenure at the Clarion West 1992 writing workshop, when one of their classmates, having taken lumps for poorly handling characters of racial backgrounds other than their own, announced that from now on, they'd stick to writing white people like themselves, rather than get it so wrong and risk giving offense and having to deal with outrage.This is no solution. If all the writers who are sensitive enough to worry about getting this kind of thing right opt out of it altogether, then what remains in literature from the dominant culture will be stories told by people who don't care about getting it wrong.Enter Writing the Other, a slim volume of exercises, theory and essays on how to be less wrong -- and even, now and again, right. As Shawl and Ward are at pains to point out, science fiction and fantasy is all about telling stories about people who are fundamentally unlike the writer and the reader -- aliens, magical beings, AIs... The authors set out a general theory of empathic consideration for people unlike you that constitutes both a political education and a very useful guide for writers who are trying to tell those stories. (more…)
|
 |
by Ben Marks on (#1J2S4)
Lisa Hix of has written a lengthy piece for Collectors Weekly on the Oneida Community of the late 19th century, and how it morphed from a group of men and women who "believed the liquid electricity of Jesus Christ’s spirit flowed through words and touch, and that a chain of sexual intercourse would create a spiritual battery so charged with God’s energy that the community would transcend into immortality, creating heaven on earth," to a company that was famous for its flatware. For her article, Lisa interviewed Ellen Wayland-Smith, a descendant of members of the Oneida commune, and the author of Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table, who spoke to Hix about the community's laudable-for-its-time, but ultimately limited, view of equality between the sexes.Here's a snip:“Oneidans never for a minute pretended that women were equal to men,†Wayland-Smith says. “Theologically, they had a pecking order. They would cite Paul and say that a man’s natural place is ahead of the woman. But on the ground, practically, women could do anything that men could do. They thought it was absurd that Victorian women wore long skirts and corsets and had this big pile of hair that prevented them from moving or being physical, which the Community believed contributed to the poor health of traditional housewives. The women of Oneida engaged in the same physical activities as men, and the Community thought that was healthy. Women played sports. They went out and chopped down trees; they cleared swamps.“Oneida broke down the popular idea that there was a domestic sphere where women excelled and a public sphere where men excelled,†she continues. “The workload occasionally fell into stereotypical divisions. Most of the people who worked in the Children’s House were women, although there were some men taking care of the kids, too. But the men had to do laundry side by side with the women, and the women could work in the trap shop if they wanted. A lot of women were bookkeepers for the Community businesses. One woman wanted to be a dentist and so she took lessons from the Community dentist and became a dental assistant. Within reason, Oneida offered a wide variety of choice in one’s occupations.â€
|
 |
by Richard Kaufman on (#1J2S6)
Whether you like it, hate it, or just couldn’t give a flying fig (personally, I haven’t seen it), the Disney movie Frozen has been a huge success for the Walt Disney Company.Sometimes the popularity of a film can have an unexpected benefit. With all the hand-wringing among Disney fans about how The Walt Disney Company has been throwing all of its resources into Shanghai Disneyland at the expense of the Disney theme parks in the United States, everyone got a big surprise yesterday when the new ride “Frozen Ever After†opened at the Norway Pavilion in World Showcase at Epcot simply because they spent a lot of money on it and did a swell job.Disney has used its state-of-the-art internal digital projection systems for the faces of the "human" characters and the Audio-Animatronic figures of Olaf are top of the line and move with great fluidity."Frozen Ever After" replaces “Maelstrom,†which I think was well liked simply because it was one of only two rides in World Showcase, the other being “Rio Del Tiempo†in the Mexican pavilion (which was clichéd and boring, but is now much more enjoyable since a rehab several years ago which added the Three Caballeros—Donald, Jose Carioca, and Panchito).Originally, almost every country’s pavilion was supposed to have a film, show, or ride, though many were the victim of budget cutting. “Frozen Ever After†is destined to be extremely popular judging by its almost three-hour wait time yesterday.Don’t forget to get a Fast Pass Plus BEFORE you go!https://youtu.be/qX9aIx2QzkwOriginal Source: Blog Mickey
|
 |
by Jason Weisberger on (#1J2QY)
Talking Points Memorandum shares this incredible story of an America I don't believe I live in. Tennessee congressional candidate Rick Tyler is proudly running on a platform of racism.Via TPM:An independent candidate running for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District seat is under fire for a campaign billboard he posted with the slogan "Make America White Again," local TV station WRCB reported Wednesday.Rick Tyler confirmed to the station that he put up the billboard, which also lists the address for his campaign website. Tyler told WRCB that he does not hate people of color, but does believe America "should go back to the 1960s.""(The) Leave it to Beaver time when there were no break-ins; no violent crime; no mass immigration," he told the news station.Tyler also posted a billboard for his campaign that features part of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech superimposed on a drawing of the White House with Confederate flags around it, according to WRCB.Some residents wrote in to the news station stating their desire to have the signs taken down. Tyler said that he respects their First Amendment rights but thinks many others share his views.You'd hope these signs lose him more votes than they gain. I cry for Tennessee.
|
 |
by Ben Marks on (#1J2H9)
When I was a kid in the late 1960s, I briefly washed dishes and carried equipment for a light show called Garden of Delights, which was based in Sausalito, California. So it was a dream come true to interview Bill Ham, the artist behind the first light shows in 1966 at San Francisco's fabled Avalon Ballroom. Over the course of three mornings and afternoons, I spoke with Bill about how he got into light shows, the techniques that evolved from his early experiments with Elias Romero, the reactions of musicians to his work, and his years in Europe at the beginning of the 1970s, which included a stay at a French chateau with the Grateful Dead. Highlights from those conversations, clocking in at 9,000 or so words, have now been published at Collectors Weekly.Here's a snip:Collectors Weekly: Can you describe the techniques you were using at that time?Ham: It started with the overhead projectors, which had been designed for lectures and presentations, so that lecturers could show their audiences diagrams, text, and other information as they spoke. Overhead projectors were used mostly in educational settings, for corporate meetings, that sort of thing. We repurposed them.The main medium of the overhead projector had been the transparency. The light source below the projector’s flat surface, which is actually a Fresnel lens, would beam the image or words on the transparency onto a mirror above, which, in turn, aimed that image through a focusing lens and onto a screen or wall. Transparencies are dry, but we were projecting liquids, so the first things we needed to do were to protect the lens with a clear sheet of glass and then contain the liquids.Early on, Elias had discovered that clock crystals -- the clear pieces of glass that protect a clock’s hands and other moving parts -- made good bowls for light-show liquids. They came in all shapes and sizes. Those that were deeply concave held more liquid. Others were flatter, which allowed you to do different things to the liquids. Some crystals with round bottoms could actually be spun in circles on the projector’s flat surface. And then, by setting one bowl on top of another, you could stack them up, several at a time, to produce even more effects, liquid- and color-wise.Whatever the effect, the overhead projector was the only tool a light-show artist could use that let him actively direct the form and composition of the projection. Slide and film projectors were also used in light shows, but only the overhead projector allowed the artist to work directly with his liquid materials in a way that was truly spontaneous.
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J2HB)
Thinkgeek has posted a pair of spinning fidget rings for gamers: a $20 D20 ring you flick to get a value between 1-20, and a $25 "counter ring" that clicks from values between 0-99, useful for tracking hit points. (more…)
|
 |
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1J2D6)
Yippee! My wife has started making dirty martinis (vodka, a swish of vermouth, and olive brine) lately, and I have been drinking them, after having been a virtual teetotaler for many years. Our old cocktail shaker was missing its lid, so I ordered this stainless steel shaker, which is on sale for $9 on Amazon. It also comes with a jigger. The price dropped from $49 in April, so this is quite a deal.
|
 |
by Xeni Jardin on (#1J28G)
(UPDATE BELOW)Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department documents obtained by Radar Online describe materials depicting "animal torture" and "nude children" that were found during a 2003 search of Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch. The issue of pornography in the Michael Jackson child abuse investigations first arose about a decade ago. The pop music icon died seven years ago, but the ugly secrets of his alleged abuse keep surfacing. (more…)
|
by Wink on (#1J28J)
See sample pages from this book at Wink.Sharks. Face-to-Face With the Ocean's Endangered Predator by Michael MullerTaschen2016, 334 pages, 11.5 x 15 x 1.5 inches $45 Buy a copy on AmazonSharks. The word alone conjures images of grey and white shadows, dorsal fins slicing through the water, row after row of fierce, terrifying, teeth. And we love them for it. Since Jaws first made us all afraid to go into the water, sharks have become our favorite bad guys. We paint them as the apex predators, devouring everything that dares enter their territory, including we frail, defenseless humans. And then we anthropomorphize them into relentless, driven killers, intent on feasting upon every last one of us. While this characterization makes for great entertainment, it has also lead to the idea that shark attacks are the result of killing machines stalking easy prey instead of the mistaken identity accidents that they are. This, combined with a pronounced market for shark fins, liver, and other body parts has lead to a severe decline in several shark species across the globe.Sharks are magnificent animals. They are the undisputed kings of the sea, at home and graceful in the ocean, beautiful and awe inspiring to watch. This beautiful animal, while dangerous, is something to be respected rather than feared; they are animals that offer far more in their exotic beauty than ever they could cut up in rare dishes and cuisine. Which is exactly what underwater photographer Michael Muller shows us in Sharks. Face-to-Face with the Ocean’s Endangered Predator.This book, Muller’s first, presents the culmination of over a decade’s worth of close encounters with sharks both small and gargantuan, both fierce and gentle, both rare and common. The photographs show incredible beauty at close range and in their natural habitats, all the better to help us overcome our fears, the better to see sharks for the graceful animals they are. Presented by Taschen, this book is huge, beautiful, and comprehensive. Arranged geographically, the photos are printed on heavy, matte paper that allows a full range of colors and tones. The photos are also presented without context. Rather each photo is given its own page or two (or three or four in the gatefolds) and explanations and details are saved for the picture index in the final pages. Additional indices include essays by Philippe Cousteau, Jr. and Dr. Alison Kock detailing the need for conservation efforts as well as an overview of Muller’s work and technique by Arty Nelson. Perhaps the most important, or maybe just most interesting index is the Species Notes, written by Dr. Kock, which includes each species place on the Red List of Threatened Species.This is an amazing, hefty (seriously, you’re gonna need a bigger boat, er, shelf) tome full of stunning photos of wildlife at its most majestic. Pick up a copy for the photographer and wildlife lover in your life and, next time you see a shark on the big screen in the role of bad guy, maybe try to see things from its point of view?– Joel Neff
 |
by Andrea James on (#1J1MG)
The fine folks at Small Business Web Designs in Australia put together a very helpful list of 50 Top Rated Websites for Royalty Free Stock Images, like Path to the Sea by Paul Jarvis on Life of Pix. (more…)
|
 |
by Jason Weisberger on (#1J1MP)
Chiko the Shiba Inu loves him some tv. Not long after Olesia Kuzmychova rescued her little buddy, she realized he really loves to watch the tube. (more…)
|
 |
by Jason Weisberger on (#1J1FP)
Getting left behind at a dive site is scary stuff. Some divers chose to carry a GPS transponder they may use to signal the satellite of love, and call in help from Team America. Sometimes those transponders get away from a diver. This one drifted 1100 miles, and was found on a beach. It has been returned to its owner. Via CA Diver:Two years ago, a marine biology professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California was participating on a research dive in the Cayman islands when he inadvertently lost his Nautilus Lifeline radio. Thanks to a curious beachcomber in Texas, it’s being returned to him.On May 26, Harry Payne was walking at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas when he stumbled across an item half buried in the sand. It turned out to be the professor’s Nautilus Lifeline, and it appeared to be in reasonably good condition. Harry located the serial number, contacted the manufacturer, and was given the owner’s email address.The radio had drifted more than 1,100 miles on its journey to South Padre Island.
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J1F7)
On March 3, a worker shot this video of him and his co-workers illegally pouring HOCUT 795-B out on the Nevada desert floor, then burning out the residue, at the insistence of their (unnamed) employer. (more…)
|
 |
by Jason Weisberger on (#1J1F9)
Working on something in the dark is a whole lot easier when have a flashlight strapped to your noggin. I like this $8 LED headlamp. Sure, it looks silly! Regardless, having a light point where you are looking, when working in the dark, is more than just incidentally great. This lamp has easy to find and adjust knobs, even if you are wearing work gloves. You may aim the lamp, to ensure its illuminating where you need, and can adjust it through 3 useful levels of white light, and one flashing red one. For roadside work on a bike or car, at night, I've found I'd much rather have one of these than a traditional hand flashlight. Easy to fit under the seat of my bike, or in the glove box of the car, this saves me needing to direct a second pair of hands, or constantly adjust the light on my own. I hope not to need the flashing red feature. LE Headlamp LED, 3 AAA Batteries Included via Amazon
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J1BY)
Two windmills are standing in a field and one asks the other, "What kind of music do you like?" (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J1BG)
In Snooping on Mobile Phones: Prevalence and Trends, a paper presented at SOUPS 16, computer scientists from UBC and the University of Lisbon show that a rigorous survey reveals that up to one in five people have snooped on a loved one or friend by accessing their phone. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J1BJ)
In Insurance coverage of customers induces dishonesty of sellers in markets for credence goods, a research paper in PNAS by German and Austrian economists, the authors show experimental evidence that electronics repair shops are more likely to overcharge for labor when their customers have insurance. (more…)
|
 |
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1J18G)
This inquisitive fellow was unable to keep his hands off a delicate museum piece hanging from the wall at the National Watch & Clock Museum. After breaking it, he lost interest and walked away, leaving his companion to clean up the mess.
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J18J)
Roger Grimes tracked down a Craigslist scammer and interviewed him for Infoworld, getting some surprisingly frank answers about what life is like as a small time online con-artist. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J16A)
Techpowerup caught hardware giants MSI and Asus shipping them graphics cards that were preset for a software-based overlock mode, meaning that the cards performed better out of the box for reviewers than they would for customers. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1J106)
When billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and Steve Forbes get into politics, they firewall their own companies off from their campaigns, demonstrating a basic care about the appearance of conflict of interest -- not so Donald Trump, who rents himself office space, sells himself private jet time, and supplies water, booze, and country club ballrooms. (more…)
|
 |
by Xeni Jardin on (#1HZ19)
“The U.S. government wants to use an obscure procedure—amending a federal rule known as Rule 41— to radically expand their authority to hack,†the EFF says. “The changes to Rule 41 would make it easier for them to break into our computers, take data, and engage in remote surveillance. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1HYZ5)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoR-NMY-lCsGus the hacker puppeteer (previously) writes, "Since The Media Show began, people have been asking us, 'What do hacking, digital literacy, and media literacy have to do with each other? I don't see the connection.'" (more…)
|
 |
by Cool Tools on (#1HYTF)
After 5 years of pretty much exclusively using my Bodum teapot I have gotten so used to it I only notice the process when I’m not at home and have to use a different teapot.I like having a big pot of tea sitting on my desk while I work on the computer but with most teapots the tea continues to gain in strength the longer it stays in the pot; unless you want to outright remove the tea which is nothing but a hot mess. This is the best teapot in my experience for being able to brew tea that can stay in the pot but not continue steeping and increasing in strength.The system is very simple, the strainer inside the teapot has no holes in its bottom section so when the plunger is fully depressed the tea cannot continue to soak in the water as it has been cut off and sealed in the bottom of the strainer.I use it whenever I’m at home and can have 1 liter of tea that is of a consistent strength sitting on my desk, making the only other issue I have to deal with the fact that eventually it will go cold which is an issue I have not found a solution to other than drinking the tea.I was not able to find the exact porcelain model I have online anymore, it seems like Bodum may have discontinued it but they make the same size and shape pot out of borosilicate glass (the stuff pyrex is made from) so if anything its now stronger and more shatter resistant if dropped plus since its now clear you can see exactly how much tea is left in the pot. -- Thomas Webster
|
 |
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1HYD5)
Gallium is a metal that melts at 86 degrees F. It's more fun than playing with mercury, and probably safer, too (it *will* temporarily stain your skin gray though, because it's "wet" when liquid and will adhere to the crevices of your skin). My daughter's friend brought some over a couple of weeks ago, and it was such a hit at our house that we had to get some of our own. This 20 gram sample is just $10 including shipping on Amazon.
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1HYAH)
A letter from the ACLU to lawmakers asked them to vote down the Democrats' proposed limits on firearm sales, but not for the same reasons that the NRA objected to the legislation. (more…)
|
 |
by Jason Weisberger on (#1HYVA)
Don't let the cover art scare you away! The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison are fun, hero beats the odds, space opera fun. In Thomas Wright's first installment, Call Sign Reaper, we meet familiar characters, then and head off on a familiar plot! Retired special forces type space guy Ben was drummed out of the service on trumped up charges. Instead of disappearing to the Los Angeles underground, he spends a couple months off. Ben is recruited back into service via a bar fight, and an attractive commanding officer. You do know where this is going, right? Get ready to roll your eyes. Thomas Wright gets this genre, and clearly enjoys it. The story rollicks along, and the characters are just getting going. YouStandard indie novel warning: lots of folks have complained of the editing, but I enjoyed the stories enough to not notice much. The novel was free via Kindle Unlimited. The Chronicles of Benjamin Jamison: Call Sign Reaper (Book 1) via Amazon
|
 |
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1HY45)
After watching Ben Ridgway's "Continuum Infinitum" video, everything I looked at seemed to recede for a while. Ben recommends downloading the video and looping it.As you watch the movie for a minute or so and then look away, you will experience a mild optical illusion that feels as if everything you look at is shrinking away from you. This is caused by the motion after-effect (MAE). It is a visual illusion experienced after viewing a moving visual stimulus for a time (tens of milliseconds to minutes) with stationary eyes, and then fixating on a stationary stimulus. The stationary stimulus appears to move in the opposite direction to the original (physically moving) stimulus. The motion aftereffect is believed to be the result of motion adaptation.Neurons coding a particular movement reduce their responses with time of exposure to a constantly moving stimulus; this is neural adaptation. Neural adaptation also reduces the spontaneous, baseline activity of these same neurons when responding to a stationary stimulus. One theory is that perception of stationary objects, for example rocks beside a waterfall, is coded as the balance among the baseline responses of neurons coding all possible directions of motion. Neural adaptation of neurons stimulated by downwards movement reduces their baseline activity, tilting the balance in favor of upwards movement.
|
by Gareth Branwyn on (#1HY0A)
This absolutely gorgeous under-six-minutes short film, called Adam, was rendered by the Unity team, in real-time, to show off the capabilities of the current Unity game engine. Here's what Unity Technologies has to say about the film.The Unity Demo Team built Adam with beta versions of Unity 5.4 and our upcoming cinematic sequencer tool.Adam also utilizes an experimental implementation of real-time area lights and makes extensive use of high fidelity physics simulation tool CaronteFX, which you can get from the Unity Asset Store right now.To make Adam, the Demo Team developed custom tools and features on top of Unity including volumetric fog, a transparency shader and motion blur to cover specific production needs. We’ll make these freely available soon!Adam runs at 1440p on a GeForce GTX980. Attendees at Unite Europe were able to play with it in real time, and we’ll make a playable available soon so everyone can check it out.Open it to full-screen, HD, for maximum impact. It is quite impressive.
 |
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1HXZP)
Interestingly, you can buy fireworks at Walmart stores in Arizona. You aren't supposed to light them all at once inside the store, though. The gentleman who did will soon learn that fireworks are harder to come by in prison.
|
 |
by David Pescovitz on (#1HXZR)
"Color Psychology" by Lilly Mtz-Seara (Vimeo) -MUSIC-
|
 |
by Rob Beschizza on (#1HXWD)
"After over 100 hours of work, I present to you Seinfeld.wad," writes Doug Keener. "A replica of Jerry Seinfeld's Apartment from his hit sitcom, Seinfeld!"Join Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine in this neat Doom/Seinfeld crossover! There are many custom textures and sprites to bring you the full experience of being inside Jerry's Apartment, inside Doom 2! Each sprite has audio clips and death animations! Have fun slaughtering the gang relentlessly in this wad about nothing! ... Special Thanks to GIMP 2.0, GZDoomBuilder, Slade3, applekwisp, Seinfeld cast and crew, and the lovely people over at ZDoom forums and wiki.
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1HXRX)
The NRA -- tone-deaf, intransigent, monied -- are seemingly unstoppable, but if anyone can shoot 'em down, it's Samantha Bee, whose tight, funny, rage-filled 5:30 on America's gun lobby is practically armor-piercing. (via Rolling Stone)
|
 |
by Andrea James on (#1HXMQ)
At least five plus a backhoe, if the cow managed to stick its head in a tree. North Yorkshire Fire probably did not train for this, but they saved the cow regardless. (more…)
|
 |
by Andrea James on (#1HXHK)
Etsy artist Andrew Creamer drew North America to look like Tolkein's Middle-Earth. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1HXFS)
It's hard to fund space exploration research -- the commercial applications are speculative and far-off -- but there's never been a better time to study super-efficient, closed-loop botany of the sort that will someday accompany human interplanetary missions, thanks to the need to develop better grow-ops for the burgeoning legal weed market in Canada. (more…)
|
 |
by Andrea James on (#1HXCX)
Photographer Suren Manvelyan continued his series of stunning closeups of eyes by focusing on non-humans. Above: Red-eared turtle. Below, a Fennec fox and a raven. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1HWP1)
Theodor Herzl's seminal 1896 essay Der Judenstaat called for the creation of Jewish state as an answer to the ancient evil of antisemitism; its legacy, Zionism, underpinned the creation of Israel; in Judenstaat, Simone Zelitch's beautifully told, thoughtful and disturbing alternate history, the Jewish state is created in Saxony, not Palestine, and takes the place of East Germany. (more…)
|
 |
by Xeni Jardin on (#1HVRW)
The U.S. Supreme Court today delivered a damaging blow to the Fourth Amendment “by making it even easier for law enforcement to evade its requirement that stops be based on reasonable suspicion,†as a New York Times editorial puts it. Justices ruled 5 to 3 [PDF] that a police officer’s illegal stop of a man on the street should not prevent using against him any evidence obtained from a search connected to that stop. (more…)
|
 |
by Cory Doctorow on (#1HVAJ)
Attention, melting Californians and other overheaded personages: I ran across a fine fellow carrying one of these $28 Sourpuss Parasols -- the Kraken -- at Disneyland a couple weeks ago (he was a Boing Boing reader): as the daylight temperatures reach pizza-oven levels, I find myself appreciating just what a clever person this gent was to avail himself of such a fine shade. I've just ordered mine.
|
 |
by Andrea James on (#1HTT5)
"In the 1970s, Foosball was a top 10 professional sport in America," explains the narrator of this Kickstarter campaign. Now they want to make a documentary. (more…)
|
 |
by Cool Tools on (#1HTRA)
I have always hated Teflon pans even before hearing how bad it was for you. They just don’t hold up well and the alternative has always been keeping a very well seasoned cast iron pan. I have done this for years, but it takes a fair amount of attention, and is still not a perfect non stick solution. I started trying some of the ceramic coated pans a few years back and have found one to be the best, the Scanpan ($98, Amazon). They are not cheap but I have used their classic fry pan to make eggs every morning for a couple years and the coating looks as good as new and as I have added others to my collection I find that they are the ones I reach for every time. They clean as easy as brand new Teflon pans, come in a variety of handle and lid styles, and hold up better and have none of the toxicity. -- Alexander Rose
|
 |
by Mark Frauenfelder on (#1HTC4)
How lucky is that Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, gets to charge taxpayers for his $1,600 hairstyling bill? Almost everyone else who suffers from expensive hair syndrome must pay for it out-of-pocket. Guardian:A visit to New York by Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and his wife Sara cost the country’s taxpayers $541,886 (£382,000) , according to a detailed breakdown published after months of attempts by his office to prevent its release.The cost – which included thousands of dollars for hairstyling and makeup for Netanyahu – follows a series of other recent controversies over the luxurious life enjoyed by the prime minister at the taxpayer’s expense – not least their travel.... A year earlier, it was revealed that Netanyahu had an annual contract of more than $2,000 with a Jerusalem ice cream parlour to supply his favourite flavour – pistachio.
|
 |
by Andrea James on (#1HT92)
Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, the dark British web series of shorts created by Becky Sloan and Joseph Pelling, released its sixth and final episode. If you haven't seen the others that came out starting in 2011, start below first: (more…)
|